Author's note: And it's the last chapter! Thanks so much for sticking with me, guys. I really enjoyed writing this.

Next week is the interlude, written in response to a comment from DragonPhoenix16. (See? If you review, you might get a story too!) After that is the sequel to this one; it's a bit longer - 20 100 words against 11 600 in this one - so there'll be more to enjoy! (Yes, I do like to write in nice even amounts of words. :D)

Since this is the last chapter, I'll PM anyone who asks questions or whatever.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5

"How's your friend?" Haki asked.

"Worn out, poor thing." Sophie folded the map back up. "He's been flying all day."

"Cherit's not really built for long distance flying," Dante agreed, joining them. "Sophie, can I see that?"

Sophie handed over the map. "Is he alright?"

"He's resting. Here." He tapped the map. "That's where he came from."

"It's along the river," Haki said, studying it. "It's only about another hour away. Is he sure?"

"He's sure. Can you call Stefan?"

"Yeah. Let me get the sat phone."

"How did he know where we are?" Sophie asked.

"He didn't. He's been trying to avoid the Organization. He dodged them about ten minutes ago and started towards Perth, looking for the Foundation safe house there."

"And we just happened to be in the way. Poor Cherit."

"Lucky for us, though."

Haki came back, offering Dante the sat phone. "Stefan? Dante. Listen, how fast can you get your Seekers into position?"

***

The sun was starting to go down again. Zhalia's body clock was finally realigning; it only felt like she'd been up for a day instead of two or three.

"Lok, your pills," she murmured.

Lok, curled on his side, didn't respond. Zhalia sighed, picking up their last water bottle and crossing to sit on the bed.

"Lok," she said more firmly. "Take your pills."

He took the pills obediently, dry swallowing them and waving away the water she offered. "You really should be drinking more," she protested.

He still didn't answer, curling into a tighter ball. Sighing, she hauled on his shoulder until he unfolded enough that she could touch his forehead.

"Lok, you're burning up. You need to drink this."

Grier shoved the door open, carrying a tray. "Dinner."

Zhalia took the tray from him, grimacing. "I see we're getting the gourmet menu."

"Food's much better on this side of the door."

"Yeah, but the view's better over here."

He scowled, tossing two more bottles of water on the bed before stomping back out again.

"Looks like cheeseburgers and chips," Zhalia told Lok. "Sit up and eat something."

Lok rolled over again, pulling the blanket up over his head.

Zhalia grimaced, pushing the tray aside. "Lok…"

Noise filtered in from outside and she paused, crossing to look out the window.

***

"Boltflare! Honourguard!" Sophie rolled to her feet next to Dante, glancing around.

She'd never seen a fight on such a huge scale. The Seekers outnumbered the Suits, but the Suits were defending rather than attacking and thus had the advantage. Titans romped around, threatening their owners as often as the enemy, and the lights from attacks cast the whole field in strange colours.

Santiago appeared next to her, scanning the field. "Dante! If you and Sophie cover me, I believe I can get inside. There's a gap in their lines."

"I see it," Dante agreed. "Grier is inside, though, and he's dangerous."

"I'll go," Sophie said. "I'm faster than you," she added when Santiago started to protest.

"Be careful," Dante warned her. "Ready?"

"Quite. Sabriel, let's go!"

Grier was alone in the main room, fiddling with the lock on one of the doors. Breaker's amulet was in his hand, but he hadn't invoked him.

"Hey!" Sophie yelled. Grier spun, staring at her. "I thought we left you on Sutos Island!"

"Appearances can be deceiving," Grier snarled. "Augurfrost!"

"Honourguard!"

The room was too small for him to summon Breaker. Sophie sent a Boltflare at him, examining the room. The door behind Grier was the only one locked, and there didn't seem to be anyone else in the building.

Grier charged her; Sophie waved Sabriel back, ducking under Grier's blow. Sabriel immediately engaged him, freeing Sophie to slip past and unlock the door.

Zhalia was standing next to the door, a wooden board clutched in her hands. Lok, eyes dull and empty, was hunched on the floor next to her.

"Lok!" Sophie dropped to the floor beside him. "Are you alright?"

Lok didn't answer; his eyes drifted shut, and Sophie looked up at Zhalia. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I have no magic. What's going on?"

"Everyone else is still outside…Honourguard!"

Grier burst in; Zhalia swung the board, catching him in the stomach. Sophie yanked at Lok's shoulders, pulling him further away from the door. Grier doubled up, groaning, and Sabriel came in behind him, blade ready.

"Stop her!" Zhalia yelled at Sophie, who waved Sabriel back. "Grier, go outside. Join the fight out there."

"Those Foundation Seekers will never defeat us," Grier spat.

"Then it doesn't matter which side of the door you're standing on. You want to sit in here and babysit the kids, or you want to go out there and defeat Dante Vale?"

Grier scowled, backing out the door. Sabriel followed him into the main room, setting herself on guard at the door.

Sophie went back to her knees beside Lok. "Lok, are you alright?"

"He's sick," Zhalia told her, going back to the window. "Is that Santiago?"

"Yes. Cherit found us a little while ago."

"The little Titan did it?" Zhalia smiled, impressed despite herself.

"It wasn't your idea?"

"Lok's. Can you seal that door?"

Sophie nodded, sitting back on her heels and concentrating. She murmured the spell under her breath; Zhalia ignored it, leaning out the window to catch Dante's eye. He nodded when he saw her, turning to wave to the other Seekers.

"Step it up!" he yelled.

Several of the Suits tried to retreat towards the building; Dante, Santiago and three or four other Seekers somersaulted over their heads, cutting them off. The battle quickly descended into a rout; even Grier couldn't save them, and the Organization fighters were soon unconscious or under guard.

Dante and Santiago hurried into the building; Sophie's spell was still holding, but she dropped it when Santiago called her. Santiago knelt beside her and Dante went to Zhalia, touching her shoulder lightly.

"Are you alright?" he asked, studying her. The bruises on her jaw and throat were vivid against her skin, and there were traces of blood still under her nose and ear.

"I'm fine." She leaned against him for a moment, gathering her strength.

"Cherit says Klaus blocked your magic. Do you know how?"

"Is he here?" She glanced at the window.

"No. He got away before we could stop him. Zhalia, do you know what he did?"

"Yeah." She looked past him at Sophie and Santiago. "He has pneumonia."

"Zhalia."

She looked back at Dante, surprised. "What?"

"She's in shock," Haki said from behind them. "We should get them out of here."

Dante nodded. "Santiago, can you…"

"We have him," Sophie assured him.

"Good. Zhalia, listen. How did Klaus block your magic?"

"He has a…thing." She gestured vaguely. "Like a bug."

"Ok," Dante agreed. "And where is it?"

Zhalia turned, lifting her top a little. The bug was nestled into the small of her back, partially burrowed under the skin there.

Dante started to reach for it; she caught his wrist, stopping him. "It'll hurt you."

"Doesn't matter. Are you ready?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath, letting go of his wrist. "Do it."

Dante's hand closed over the bug and he pulled.

***

Zhalia was bone weary, but – for the first time in a long time – she didn't hurt anywhere. For a long time she was willing to just enjoy that, but eventually she woke up the rest of the way.

"Morning," Dante said quietly from somewhere nearby.

"Is it?"

"Well, almost. How do you feel?"

"Tired." She stretched, wincing as the movement woke all the aches in her body. "And stiff," she added. "Where are we?"

"Huntik Foundation safe house in Perth. You've been asleep for a day and a half."

"Have I?" She thought about that for a minute. "What about Lok?" she added, more sharply.

"Lok's fine. His doctor says he'll be able to travel by the end of the week…and you should be alright to fly by then, too. He's surprised you made it here with that ear."

"Didn't have much choice," she murmured, sitting up.

"No, I suppose not," Dante agreed. "The doctor says Lok was already taking antibiotics."

"Yeah."

"Where did he get those?" he prompted her.

"Organization doctor."

"Klaus called a doctor?"

"Zhalia made him," Cherit said from the doorway.

Zhalia threw her pillow at the little Titan. "Sneak!" Dante laughed softly, and she glanced back. "Klaus needed us alive. It wasn't hard to persuade him. And only Lok could get pneumonia and heat exhaustion at the same time."

"He does have a knack." Dante got up to retrieve her pillow. "The doctor says your ear's already healing up. He gave you painkillers, if you want them."

"No thanks. It's not that bad."

Cherit landed on the bed. "You should take them. They'll help you sleep easier."

"I don't need them."

Dante frowned, sitting back on the bed. "Are you sure? They'll ease some of that stiffness, too."

Zhalia grimaced. "They make my head fuzzy. I can't think straight or cast any spells."

"You don't need spells," Cherit reminded her. "This is a safe house."

"Yeah, I know." She looked away, picking at her blanket.

"It's fine," Dante put the packet on the night table by the bed. "Take them if you need them, alright?"

"I will." She glanced at the window. "Huh."

"What?" Dante looked over; the sky was starting to lighten, but it wasn't dawn yet.

"I finally feel like it's the right time. Just in time for us to head back home."

"Not for another couple of days," Dante reminded her, standing. "Get some more sleep. Sophie's been trying to sneak out to see Lok all night; I should go catch her before she tries again."

Zhalia caught his arm. "Let the kids play. Lok was pretty sick for a while."

"That bug…"

"Was meant for you. Klaus developed it for you…the Professor's obviously getting tired of you."

"Well, they say the man who never made an enemy never made anything. Zhalia, get some sleep."

"Stay with me?"

Dante smiled. "If you like."

***

Lok was curled on his side in a hospital bed, gazing idly out the window, when Sophie slipped in just before dawn that day. "Morning, Lok."

"Morning. Where is everyone?"

"Zhalia and Dante are back at the safe house. She's still exhausted."

"Is she alright?"

"Well, when Dante got the bug off, all her Titans spontaneously invoked. Getting them back under control when she was already so tired used up all her reserves. She's been asleep for a day and a half." She sat carefully on the side of the bed. "Lok, do you know what was going on?"

"Yeah." He sat up, playing with the edge of the blanket. "The Professor wanted me either out of the game or on his side. They were waiting for all the Seekers to reach Australia, then we were going back to Prague…only I got sick, and they couldn't move me."

"Yes, the doctors here said if you hadn't been taking the pills you'd be much sicker. As it is they think you'll be able to travel by next week, and Zhalia's ear should be healed by then as well. You're lucky they gave you those antibiotics."

"Zhalia made them call an Organization doctor."

Sophie frowned, studying him. Lok sounded oddly distant. "Lok, are you alright?"

"Course." He smiled quickly. "I'm just looking forward to getting out of here. Go back home, get a few more missions."

"Oh!" Sophie dug into her pocket, lifting out a slightly crumpled envelope. "This came for you, just after the mission to Spain. It was waiting at Dante's."

"Oh?" Lok took it from her, pausing to cough.

"Yeah. I didn't mean to bring it, but…" She shrugged, looking away.

"It's from my mom," Lok said in surprise. "She says that…hey, she used to be a Seeker!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I didn't know about that. I mean, she must have known my dad was, but I didn't realise…" He let the letter slide out of his hands, thinking.

Sophie carefully picked up the letter, scanning through it. "She says Guggenheim called her when you started working with Dante, and she'd like you to go home to visit her. Where does she live?"

"Ireland. Kerry. I went home at Christmas, but I haven't been back since."

"Is it just your mother?"

"No. My sister Cathy lives at home." He took the letter back from her. "Hey, you're invited."

"I am?"

"Well, my team. Which is you, Dante and Zhalia."

"Why did you go to the Academy? It's pretty far away."

"My dad wanted me to go there. They talked about it before he went missing. Plus…" he shrugged. "You might have noticed I'm not very studious. The Academy has a really good reputation."

"Hmm. Your mother sounds really nice."

"She is." He stared at the letter for another moment.

"Dante'll be here soon. You could ask him."

"Yeah, I think I will. I'd like to go home."

"For a holiday?" Sophie winced; that hadn't sounded anywhere near as casual as she'd wanted it to.

"Yeah. Just a holiday, Sophie. Even Seekers get holidays, right?" He smiled, reaching out a hand. She took it lightly, and they sat together and watched the sun rise.

***

***

KaliAnn: Thanks! I'm glad the diagnosis made sense. I did a ridiculus amount of research for this story, on illness and Australian legends and everything! I'm glad it made some sense. And yes, there's more stories; an interlude and a sequel to this one, and an unrelated story I'm working on at the moment.

Kanasukeh: Glad you're enjoying! I quite liked Grier, and when I was writing this I hadn't seen Like Father, Unlike Son where he quits to go live on Sutos Island, so I wrote him in.

DragonPhoenix16: Not to worry, there's plenty more to come. :D

Jade Dex: I was reading about near drownings, and pneumonia is a common side affect, because the lungs have been weakened. I needed Lok to be sick for the story to work, so it seemed the natural way to go!

San child of the Wolves: Thanks! I hope you're going to stick around for the next stories.

Aria Aisling: Literally after reading your review I got an idea for a new story, so it worked! Glad you're enjoying. And yeah, they're not much good at consequences...Zhalia got her foot crushed, Lok got a concussion as well as drowning, Sohpie collapsed a couple times...still, that's what fic is for, yes? :D

ownagedude: He didn't use Everfight because he was hoping he wouldn't have to, but they couldn't avoid the Organization.

Maresia Eterna: I'm glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the review. This story, sadly, is over now, but there's an interlude and then a sequel to come, so hopefully they'll satisfy!